[jnorris]

I agree with PhoenixG, and the important thing to remember was stated by Skylab when he said that 99.9% of solid-state gear is output-tranformer-less (OTL), but most tube gear uses output transformers - an exception of note are the amps put out by New York Audio Labs which were designed by Julius Futterman.  The question is, are the ill-effects of running a solid-state amp into a load equal to or greater than 10x it's designed specifications more noticeable than those caused by the decrease in damping factor brought about by the 120 to 200 ohm resistors generally placed in series with the headphone outs?  Yes, you could run a resistor in parallel to the headphones to bring the impedance down to a more normal level, but then the predominance of current will bypass the headphone in favor of the lower resistance of the resistor, thus lowering the volume on the headphones while increasing the current output of the amp.
 
I for one would be more afraid of accidentally running the amp at a high volume into the un-protected headphones and watching them burn up.

 

[PhoenixG]

  I agree with PhoenixG, and the important thing to remember was stated by Skylab when he said that 99.9% of solid-state gear is output-tranformer-less (OTL), but most tube gear uses output transformers - an exception of note are the amps put out by New York Audio Labs which were designed by Julius Futterman.  The question is, are the ill-effects of running a solid-state amp into a load equal to or greater than 10x it's designed specifications more noticeable than those caused by the decrease in damping factor brought about by the 120 to 200 ohm resistors generally placed in series with the headphone outs?  Yes, you could run a resistor in parallel to the headphones to bring the impedance down to a more normal level, but then the predominance of current will bypass the headphone in favor of the lower resistance of the resistor, thus lowering the volume on the headphones while increasing the current output of the amp.
 
I for one would be more afraid of accidentally running the amp at a high volume into the un-protected headphones and watching them burn up.

Let me be clear, I wouldn't use a parallel resistor scheme unless you know what you are doing and have done the math on it, and probably not even then.
Looking at damping factor, I've had a few long posts about how high powered SS amps (i.e. vintage) do just fine with whatever damping factor you throw at them. On most vintage amps, hooking headphones up to the jack still connects it to the full power of the outputs that you would get at the back, just tempered by a dropping resistor. It's frankly one of their real selling points. It can actually invert your damping factor to much less than one, and that's totally fine. Your amp sees up to hundreds of ohms across it (HP + resistor), but as long as the SS circuit is complete and under a very large number of ohms (depending on a few things) it shouldn't have an issue.
If you're comfortable plugging into the speaker taps, you remove the safety of the dropping resistor, but the damping factor swings way far the other way. You might hear a difference, the math is there to suggest that there may be some for some amps. In that case, your amp sees your HP resistance only and will still try to do what it does best, so be careful. If you have really high impedance cans, it's less risky than low impedance ones, but there is always some risk.
 
Here's a simple formula to determine how much power will hit your cans from the taps of an amp - 8x(amp power output)/(hp impedance)=hp power output. I doubt most headphones need that much power, but hey, they're your things. You do you.

 

[a-mal]

Chiming in to say I use a Marantz 2015 with my grados. Works great!

 

[PhoenixG]

Here's a fun article about hi-res audio that had me rolling my eyes a few time. Especially when I looked through the comments.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/hi-res-audio-hijinx-why-only-some-albums-truly-rock-1425675329

 

[Exacoustatowner]

  Let me be clear, I wouldn't use a parallel resistor scheme unless you know what you are doing and have done the math on it, and probably not even then.
Looking at damping factor, I've had a few long posts about how high powered SS amps (i.e. vintage) do just fine with whatever damping factor you throw at them. On most vintage amps, hooking headphones up to the jack still connects it to the full power of the outputs that you would get at the back, just tempered by a dropping resistor. It's frankly one of their real selling points. It can actually invert your damping factor to much less than one, and that's totally fine. Your amp sees up to hundreds of ohms across it (HP + resistor), but as long as the SS circuit is complete and under a very large number of ohms (depending on a few things) it shouldn't have an issue.
If you're comfortable plugging into the speaker taps, you remove the safety of the dropping resistor, but the damping factor swings way far the other way. You might hear a difference, the math is there to suggest that there may be some for some amps. In that case, your amp sees your HP resistance only and will still try to do what it does best, so be careful. If you have really high impedance cans, it's less risky than low impedance ones, but there is always some risk.
 
Here's a simple formula to determine how much power will hit your cans from the taps of an amp - 8x(amp power output)/(hp impedance)=hp power output. I doubt most headphones need that much power, but hey, they're your things. You do you.

Thanks PhoenixG- that is useful info! I was considering the speaker tap approach for my HiFiman HE-560's- from my 2005 Yamaha V657 Receiver-but then I tried my 1991-2 Denon DRA-635R receiver ("Optical Class A") via the headphone out-and it was a night and day improvement in dynamics, bass, etc.

 

[Mr Rick]

  Here's a fun article about hi-res audio that had me rolling my eyes a few time. Especially when I looked through the comments.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/hi-res-audio-hijinx-why-only-some-albums-truly-rock-1425675329

The WSJ is always the first place I go for audiophile information. LOL

 

[Exacoustatowner]

  The WSJ is always the first place I go for audiophile information. LOL

ME too! I noticed a picture of a DragonFly USB DAC. Evidently it's the last word in DAC's-none better at any price! (Disclaimer: intended as humor- I'm sure the Dragonfly is great for it's intended purpose- I just speculate that it MIGHT not match an enormous high end DAC).

 

[Exacoustatowner]

  Here's a fun article about hi-res audio that had me rolling my eyes a few time. Especially when I looked through the comments.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/hi-res-audio-hijinx-why-only-some-albums-truly-rock-1425675329

One salient point- some people will take a CD and Hi Res version of an album-such as Norah Jones "Come Away With Me" and say that because they can't hear a difference-then there is ZERO benefit to Hi Res. They point out that the master used makes a huge difference-and in some cases the CD version does sound better.It may well be that some people do not really HEAR a difference given equal quality in the recording and mastering,
I should stop teasing my oldest friend for being proud of having done away with ALL his CD's-having converted them all to mp3. Granted the vast majority are pop and 60's-70's rock.

 

[Magick Man]

The WSJ is always the first place I go for audiophile information. LOL

Yeah, I get my financial info from Rolling Stone, too.

 

[willmax]

I'm a long time lurker and have spent countless hours reading this thread and also drooling over the vast number of images of gorgeous vintage gear. I think this is my first time posting here but I thought I'd share with you some of my collection.

 
To kick things off this is where it all started for me anyway in terms of vintage Hi-fi stuff, after I sold my Yulong D200 last year I stumble across a local guy and pick up this incredible piece of Hi-fi goodness, I know this is nowhere near the power of some of the excellent monster receivers we see posted in this thread, but to my ears this receiver has a very pleasing sound and what's more it has worked flawlessly ever since it came into my possession.

 

 
Pioneer SX-535 receiver

 
Pioneer PL-15R turntable
 



 



 


It is obvious that as a good Head-fier that I am, I would never be satisfied with the one piece of equipment, soon after acquiring the Pioneer I went ahead and bought this other beautiful piece of vintage Hi-Fi gear:

 
Rotel RA-1212 integrated amplifier




This was just the tip of the iceberg for me 

... to be continued 

 

[reddog]

Very nice pictures of your vintage gear, very nice indeed.

 

[Oregonian]

Nice photos of nice equipment.................and you're right, it's a slippery slope. 
 
I started with one little old Kenwood KA-5700....................8 vintage systems later (all being used regularly) I still look at Craigslist two or three times a week. 

 

[pedalhead]

Beautiful setup, Willmax! I'm thinking a nice turntable needs to be in my future some time soon..

 

[PhoenixG]

  Nice photos of nice equipment.................and you're right, it's a slippery slope. 
 
I started with one little old Kenwood KA-5700....................8 vintage systems later (all being used regularly) I still look at Craigslist two or three times a week. 

Absolutely right. Systems keep coming home with me and it all started with a KR-9600 my dad and I got at a yard sale for $30 when I was a teenager. Yet another fantastic system is coming home with me in 3 weeks (from Oregonian's back yard no less), but I'll post about it when I have it in the house haha.

 

[Silent One]